Judges 19:16-24

English Standard Version

¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from ^(A)the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. ^(B)The men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷ And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going ^(C)to the house of the Lord,^{[a] (D)}but no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. ^(E)There is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ And the old man said, ^(F)“Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. ^(G)Only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. ^(H)And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah's Crime

²² As they were ^(I)making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, ^(J)surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” ²³ And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, ^(K)do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, ^(L)do not do this vile thing. ^24 (M)Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. ^(N)Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man ^(O)do not do this outrageous thing.”